Stephanie over at My New Life as Mom is hosting a month long cloth diaper event! I love these. This one’s purpose is to “shed some light on cloth diapers. Styles, price comparison, misconceptions and GIVEAWAYS!” 🙂

missing from the shoot – celery Incredibella (Bella Bottoms). Note that I switched to a wipes warmer. I struggled with sprays and peri bottles, only getting wipe solution everywhere, but baby is pooping more regularly now so I can keep them wet.

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I’m sure you’ve noticed many of these are blog wins. I am so grateful for these because there is no way I could afford to buy a stash of pockets like this. I went with pockets because I needed an AIO type for the in-laws, but I didn’t mind stuffing (and yes, the AIOs I have do take more drying). Thank you to everyone who made this possible, I love cloth diapering, and so does hubby – he was just remarking today how changing cloth is not so “yucky” as changing a disposable! 🙂 And I think I won the in-laws over, and I’m sure to keep talking about them to friends and relatives.

This Mother’s Day is the first year I will be a mom. But that’s not what made me finally realize I’m a mom. It was when I was talking to my hubby about how fast baby is growing…. and realized how I was measuring his growth. By poop. Now of course I can justify this – I was talking about soon needing a diaper sprayer because baby is starting on solids, and we can no longer just throw the soiled diapers straight into the washer. But still. Only a mom would measure growth in terms of poop.

It seems like a long road already… from that first realization of “oops”, to darn-it-i-want-to-have-a-baby-bump-already!, to craving liver and cranberries… waiting and walking and laboring those last few weeks as I slowly opened up – and went overdue. To the jacuzzi in the hospital laboring room that was a cruel joke… it would randomly turn on high-speed bubbles that were agonizingly painful. To realizing the baby was in danger when they said I had meconium in the water… and to keep pushing! To hardly caring that I was stark naked when the ped emergency team swarmed the room to save my still and gray little baby. Hungering for that first touch before they whisked him away. Being on a mag drip and looking at his picture and crying as I pumped a few treasured drops of colostrum… and then finally taking my baby home. And falling in love.

Sometimes it seems I am just the milk machine. But then baby shows that I am the only one who can comfort him. The first one he learns to reach for. It’s in my arms he prefers sleeping, not his bassinet… and the only place he’ll sleep when he’s sick or teething. There’s the unguarded joy and complete trust he has in me when he plays and learns and tumbles through this new and strange world.

What is motherhood? It is being dedicated to another person’s life, happiness, and well-being. It is being the security and safety of warm arms. And it is being the owner of blackmail material. Which brings to mind the invention of digital cameras… a blessing and a curse. A blessing to us moms, and a curse to the future of our children. They will have every memorable occasion recorded, along with every occasion they didn’t want to remember… On youtube.

And as I write here, sitting next to my adorable sleeping baby, I am just starting to realize I am a mom. Mom to this beautiful, blue-eyed, chubby smiler. He will be nearly 6 months on Mother’s Day, and I love being his mom.

Over at Home Grown Families, Melissa will be having hosting “Cover the Booty” from June 1-30. She will have reviews, giveaways, twitter Q&As and more!

And then at Mama to 3 Blessings, they recently discovered they are expecting their 4th in December, and in celebration are having a Pregnancy Party & Baby Bash Event from May through November. Every week she will do a review & giveaway for pregnancy & baby items!

To my little man, on my first Mother’s Day, and your six-month birthday,

The reason I love why you were born is because of who you are. I love watching your little personality develop and show itself. I love watching and learning about you. What you like, what you are intrigued by, what infuriates you. I love watching your little mind develop as it learns about the world around you, and how to interact with it. I love watching each step of progression, from learning to recognize things, to learning how to crawl.

You are quiet and observant, but you have your loud moments! You love sounds, you always have. From the crinkle of plastic to the raspberries you blow. You love being with people. And you especially love your Daddy, always have – since you first responded when he put his hand on your womb. You recognized his voice and his hand, and always moved towards him… but away from others! After your traumatic birth, you relaxed when Daddy put his hand on your head while you recovered in the NICU. You brighten whenever you see your daddy, and you love watching and being with him. But you did many of your firsts for Mommy, and that makes me happy. You first recognized me, reached out for me, and crawled to me.

I don’t know what your life will be like, but I hope it will be a good one. That no matter what troubles you go through, you will be a whole and happy person. I hope I can be a good mommy to you and that you will always know that I unconditionally love you. I hope I can help give you the tools to maximize your strengths and talents, and learn how to conquer or live with your weaknesses and faults.

I love looking at your eyes and seeing the person inside, and the love. I love how you already show us you love us, in your baby way. I love how gentle you are, and how expressive.

And I am loving your babyhood. The chubby cheeks and dimpled hands, the neck and toe lint-collectors. The smell of baby shampoo as you splash in the tub. The fun of dressing you in cute baby clothes as you progress from size to size. Discovering cloth diapers with you. Taking photoshoots with you until you burp all over your clothes. Discovering rain and snow, grass and wind. Getting down on the floor and just laughing with you. Or discovering toys with you. I’m looking forward as you get older to introducing you to more of this big world. Like zoos. And trains. And playgrounds.